Golapi Shalik or Rosy Starling is one of the rarest migratory birds in Bangladesh, eight of which were recently sighted by Dr Reza Khan, a nature lover, on St Martin's Island also known as Narikel Jinjira.

Ruling Awami League yesterday threw a challenge to Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia to make public the "secret deal" Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed with India during her recent visit to the neighbouring country.

A special court of Bangladesh Rifles yesterday framed charges against 60 BDR jawans of 7 Rifle Battalion with links to the February 25-26 mutiny at its headquarters in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.

BNP leaders do not know anything about the 'secret security deal' that their chairperson alleged had been signed between Bangladesh and India during the prime minister's recent visit to the neighbouring country.

Armed muggers snatched Tk 5 lakh after shooting a university teacher yesterday at Savar and another gang took away Tk 50,000 by stabbing an electronics trader at the capital's Baitul Mukarram Market yesterday.

Editorial

BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has made her party's position clear on the prime minister's trip to Delhi by summarily rejecting the India-Bangladesh joint communiqué. Much of what the opposition leader said could be anticipated, but the extent to which she has gone has taken us by surprise.

THE honourable leader of the opposition (though this role is yet to be fully played by her in the right forum, the Parliament) Begum Zia deserves some credit for her consistency. Her position has been consistent since the interruption of January 11, 2007, the fateful day when a military-backed government replaced her administration.

THE long awaited talks with India over unresolved bilateral issues came at long last when last week the summit between the prime ministers, Sheikh Hasina and Dr. Manamohan Singh, took place in New Delhi amid wild speculation as to its scope and prospects. Bangladesh being a country at the receiving end of this exercise, its people pinned much hope on Sheikh Hasina's ability in exacting our dues from India on the basis of universally acceptable good neighbourliness.

Sports

It could have been an exciting day of cricket but the 'weather god' played foul on the second day of the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Stadium in the port city yesterday and it was not cricket rather fog hogged the spotlight on the day.

Nepal has been the bogey place for Bangladesh's swimmers. Because in both South Asian (SA) Games that were held in Kathmandu in 1984 and 1999, Bangladesh left the pool without a gold medal. In every other meet elsewhere in the subcontinent the natants finished atop the podium.

Alastair Cook has been named as England's Test captain for their tour of Bangladesh in February and March, after the selectors opted to rest the regular captain Andrew Strauss, as well as their leading strike bowler, James Anderson, from the two-Test and three-ODI tour that also includes a two-match Twenty20 series against Pakistan in Dubai, in which Paul Collingwood will once again take charge.

The high-ups of different federations kept on slamming the ignorance of the Bangladesh Olympic Association for not involving their technical persons during the finalisation of different events for the 11th South Asian Games to be held in Bangladesh over January 29-February 9.

With 10 days left to the start of the 11th South Asian Games, Nepalese swimmers have reached the capital of Bangladesh a couple of days ahead in a bid to prepare themselves at Mirpur National Swimming Complex in Dhaka.

Australia wrapped up their 12th consecutive Test victory over Pakistan on the final afternoon in Hobart, where Khurram Manzoor's fighting half-century was not enough to salvage a draw for the visitors. Nathan Hauritz added to his growing reputation as Test bowler by picking up the key wicket of Manzoor and finished with three, while Peter Siddle also grabbed a trio of victims.

Australia's 2009-10 won't go down in history as one of the great summers. It didn't have the hype of an Ashes series, nor the tension of a contest against India, nor the raw combat of a series against South Africa. But don't be fooled, this was a big season for Ricky Ponting's men. It was an important two months during which Ponting's hard work to mould a new-look outfit could have unravelled if the side had sunk into a post-Ashes-loss depression.

Andrew Strauss has been rested for England's forthcoming tour of Bangladesh, but he may yet miss more matches for England after his team was fined for maintaining a slow over rate during the course of South Africa's victory in the final Test of the series at the Wanderers.

Ex-Germa-ny striker Kevin Kuranyi proved his worth by sealing Schalke 04's 1-0 win over Nuremberg on Sunday, to put the Royal Blues second in the Bundesliga, despite nearly being sold over the winter break.

David Villa joined Lionel Messi at the top of the goalscoring charts, hitting his 13th and 14th goals, as Valencia moved three points behind second-placed Real Madrid after a 4-1 derby win over 10-man Villarreal at the Mestalla on Sunday.

Several thousand foreigners have already arrived in the capital to take part in the three-day Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of the Muslims, on the bank of the river Turag scheduled to be held from January 22.

The member-countries of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc) need to look into how they can remove institutional barriers and develop regionalism to encourage investments and joint ventures from neighbours, Bangladesh's Board of Investment (BoI) executive chairman has suggested.

The head of the IMF said China and other developing Asian economies are leading a global recovery that is faster and stronger than expected, but warned that money rushing into emerging markets could lead to asset bubbles.

SM Kamaluddin, chairman of Concord Group, has been elected the president of Korea-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the new trade body which got licence from the Ministry of Commerce to start its operation in Bangladesh, according to a press release.

Japan Airlines is expected to file for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, ending months-long speculation about its fate and launching a massive overhaul to shed the fat and inefficiency that hobbled Asia's biggest airline.

MAKSONS SPINNINGThe company has said a meeting of the board of directors is scheduled for January 25 at 5:30pm to consider audited accounts for the year to September 30, 2009 to finalise the dividend to be declared and to discuss and take decisions on other agendas.

E-textbooks of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has sparked so much interest among the students and guardians that its website has crashed several times due to an overload of incoming traffic in the last two weeks.

Human rights lawyers and activists appealed to the chief justice to redesign the infrastructure of the Supreme Court building to facilitate the movement of persons with disabilities in order to increase their accessibility to the judicial system.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday adjourned for a day the hearing on the leave-to-appeal petitions challenging the High Court (HC) verdict that declared illegal the fifth amendment to the constitution.

Clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents confined two high officials to their offices at Kamalapur Railway Station in the city for about two hours yesterday demanding steps to quicken the delivery of containers of imported goods from Chittagong port to Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Dhaka.

National

One hundred and seventeen officers' quarters, built for the doctors of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital about four years ago, are lying idle as doctors prefer to stay on their own arrangement.

Ecosystem in Kuakata sea beach faces threat as a section of locals dig areas there to find out logs of dead sundary trees while a group of youths are engaged in giving motorbike rides to tourists on the beach for rent.

Students of Kushtia Nurses Institute yesterday boycotted classes and ransacked the office of the civil surgeon, alleging that he did not take any steps against an Islamic University (IU) employee who assaulted a student nurse at Kushtia General Hospital on Friday night.

Twenty-eight leaders and activists of Habiganj BNP were sent to jail yesterday in a case for bringing out stick procession in the district town on the night of December 20, 2009, defying restriction imposed by police.

Charges will be framed against four militants of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Sylhet next month while five others of the outlawed Islamist outfit were charge sheeted in Jhalakathi on Sunday.

Activists of local Jubo League and Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) beat up a contractor for dropping tender against their will at Ranishankoil upazila Local Government Engineering (LGED) office yesterday.

Indian Border Security force (BSF) yesterday detained a Bangladeshi citizen from a point near Ratnai Border Outpost (BOP) under Baliadangi upazila. BDR and locals said BSF members at Sonamoti camp detained Dilbahar,28, son of Ismail Hossain of Ratnai village at about 9:00am as he went a few metres inside Indian territory to bring back his cow. Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) strongly protested the incident and asked its Indian counterpart to return Dilbahar.

Activities at Shahtoli railway station under Chandpur-Laksham route came to a halt on Sunday as booking clerk Ziaul Haq who was in charge of the station master went missing from morning. An employee at the station said, Ziaul left his workplace for Meghna Sunday morning. Earlier, he handed over the keys to station master Tapan Kumar Mitra of Chitoshi railway station. The incident stopped all activities at the station. Earlier, the activities at the station remained suspended on January 11 and 12 as the station master of the station was transferred.

A mobile court yesterday seized 200 banned notebooks from a library in Pabna town. Additional deputy magistrate (ADM) Emam Uddin Kabir aided by members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) seized the books from 'Taj Library' in the town. The mobile court recovered 100 notebooks of class three and 98 of class four and the library owner was fined Tk 2 thousand.

Police on Sunday recovered the body of an unidentified man at Kanchrahati in Shyamnagar upazila. Locals found the body of the man, aged about 40, on the road beside BRAC office early in the morning and informed the police. Later, police rushed to the spot and sent the body to Sadar hospital morgue for autopsy. Fazlur Rahman, OC of Shyamnagar police station said the unidentified man might have been killed in a road accident.

Chandpur district correspondent of daily Bangla Bazar Patrika, Shawkat Ali, was shifted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Sunday afternoon from the General Hospital here as his condition deteriorated. Family sources said, Shawkat remained almost unconscious and his condition showed no improvement. Hence, he was referred to DMCH by the attending physicians. Members of local press club visited Shawkat at the hospital on Saturday evening. Shawkat along with six others were injured in an attack by a mob suspecting them to be robbers while he went to collect information at Ketua village in Sadar upazila early Friday. None was arrested till Sunday in connection with the attack on Shawkat.

At least 10 people were injured in a clash between two groups of villagers over possession of land at Sondai village in Shailakupa upazila on Thursday. Locals said there has been a longstanding enmity between Jalal and Siraj Member of the village. The clash ensued between the supporters of the two following an altercation over irrigation of boro at the field. Critically injured Akul, Golam Rasul and Rezaul were rushed to the upazila health complex.

Annual election of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Teachers' Association (SUSTTA) will be held today. Awami League and left leaning group fielded Prof Dr Muhammad Anwarul Islam of the department of mathematics and Md Faruque Uddin of the social science department for the posts of president and general secretary while pro-BNP group has fielded Prof Sajedul Karim of the department of mathematics and Muhammad Taj Uddin of statistics department against them. A total of 380 voters will elect their representatives to the 11-member committee. Voting would start at 10:00 am and continue till 5:00 pm today.

International

The Afghan government has yet to put together a comprehensive anti-corruption plan ahead of a key international conference to lay out a road map for development, diplomats and a government official said.

"Hello," said the rescuer, a simple greeting that belied the enormity of the moment as Maria, Ariel and Lamy were pulled from the debris after surviving more than 100 hours under the rubble -- living off supermarket food.

Lawyers for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday they were optimistic Myanmar's highest court would overturn an extension of her house arrest imposed after an American intruder swam uninvited to her home.

An 18th-century account of how a falling piece of fruit helped Isaac Newton develop the theory of gravity is being posted to the Web, making scans of the fragile paper manuscript widely available to the public for the first time.

Arts & Entertainment

Riaz and Tina first worked together in the dance show “Goalini Binodon Bichitra”. Subsequently they appeared as anchors on the musical talent hunt “Shah Cement Nirman Taroka”. On screen they are a star couple, but what about off screen? The Daily Star explores the conjugal lives of the two.

The third 'Jatiyo Pitha Utshab' (National Rice Cake Festival) will start from January 21 at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) premises. Organised by Jatiyo Pitha Utshab Udjapan Committee, the weeklong festival will have over 30 stalls offering various kinds of traditional rice cakes that are made in this season [winter] across the country.

A rain-drenched Hollywood paused in its efforts to raise money for Haitian earthquake victims on Sunday long enough to focus on the Golden Globes, perhaps the most frivolous of the high-profile stops on the entertainment industry's awards trail. The big winner was James Cameron's “Avatar”, which came away with awards for best dramatic picture and best director.

In honour of 'Natyacharya' Selim Al Deen, a three-day festival will be held at the theatre icon's ancestral village Shenerkhil under Shonagazi upazilla of Feni. Organised by Selim Al Deen Mela Udjapan Jatiyo Parshad, the festival will be held from February 4 to 6. The festival will feature theatre, music, film screening and traditional performing arts.

The debut music album of young artiste Oyshika Nodee, daughter of Shaheen Sarder (director, Sargam Lalitakala Academy) is going to be released soon. The album titled “Kobitaar Gaan” features patriotic poems set to tune by Shaheen Sarder.

In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti that has killed up to tens of thousands of people, George Clooney and MTV Networks are organising a megawatt line up of musicians, film and television stars for a global telethon looking to be successful in raising funds as previous disaster telethons have in the past.

OP-ED

INDIA is to be without Jyoti Basu. The new reality will not sink easily into most minds. For most of the past half-a-century, the man had filled a crucial spot in the country's political landscape. It was a movable spot since circumstances were evolving all the time, but the picture would never be complete without this man's position and point of view.

Travel

WE were supposed to visit Narail months ago. But then many moons moaned by and all our plans collapsed one after another for one reason or another. Finally when we found time, it began with a disaster.

Science & Life

A recent study on the origin of life conducted by the Department of Genetics and Microbiology at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) contradicts the long held belief that life on Earth originated from a system of self-catalytic molecules.

DUTCH scientists have been growing pork in the laboratory, since 2006, and while they admit they haven't gotten the texture quite right or even tasted the engineered meat, they say the technology promises to have widespread implications for our food supply.

SCIENTISTS recently unveiled the genome of the soybean, saying it was an achievement that should deepen understanding of one of the world's most important crops, help to boost yields and defend the plant against pests.

THE Well of Souls, thought to be located on the Jerusalem site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, may contain the fabled and elusive Ark of the Covenant. This is the sacred vessel that, according to biblical account, contained the original Ten Commandments tablets that God gave to Moses at Mount Sinai as the ancient Israelites wandered the desert.